Religion

Oh no :( I always believed that followers were never as good as their leaders. It kind of defeats the purpose of spreading community and compassion when the community just discriminates against everyone who doesn't believe what they do. I'm very sorry to hear about your situation.

I myself am Christian, but I'm not a religious person nor do I want anything to do with religion, the holy trinity of the world is politics, economics, and religion, none of which I want to delve into...there's also the fact that many religious people in Christianity and other religions like it HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THE FRICKIN HELL THEIR BOOK TELLS THEM ABOUT WHO AND HOW TO LOVE/ACCEPT/TOLERATE.....It drives me insane to know end seeing a a homophobic Christian, or an agnostic that knows more about the bible than my preacher =_=

those who say they are "chosen" by god are....well, how to say this kindly...er "high" in their beliefs and think they need to prove something but at most endings just make things worse. if one was truly chosen they wouldn't make a huge scene out of it and try to get as much attention as possible. my sis's ex-bf still swears he was chosen by god yet a demon still possesses him O.o and he wants to be a priest when he beaten on my sister (abused my nephew, and slashed my face with a metal broom *seriously, can we go back to wooden brooms plz?*) so i guess im a little "cautious" near people like him. so if u meet someone who says stuff like that, turn tail and run cause it will not end well *good thing that my scars are far back close to my ears so their not noticeable*

I've always viewed religion as an old tool to keep the masses in line along with terror management. (Fear of death) But I came across a nice interpretation that I can understand and quite like, although I haven't become religious because of it. I'll be paraphrasing but it went along the lines of: So you have your god, and he's the ideal person. Someone you want to want to be like. But what is an ideal person? someone that cares? someone that leads? someone that's strong of mind and body? Basically all the things we value, that is what "god" is. But WHY do we value those? because we've evolved by natural selection. The best "person" is who survives and breeds. You'd want to pair up with a hunter that can not only hunt, but shares his catch. Then stories build up of being a good person. An ideal person. Over the thousands and thousands of years, mostly by word of mouth the gist and core part of stories tell a certain lesson or virtue of being a good person. These all add up and are basically the "bible" of a religion. Now what are you? You're the end result of all this natural selection that's based on values of being "a good person". So when someone "prays to god" they're looking to their ancestors for guidance in hopes they become an ideal person to get them through their tough time or thank them for some miracle that they think is a result of their devotion to becoming "a good person". "God" is the collective amalgamation of what your ancestors considered to be an ideal person. So, something of that magnitude is unsurprising humans would consider a higher entity.

I was born in a Christian-oriented family. In a pretty religious place. But I have never understood it. I tried to learn as much as I could (in hopes I could see in this belief what many other people in my life saw), to the point where I knew more about Christianity than my family and even some of my neighbors, but the more I learned, less sure I was about this religion forced down my throat. After the loss of a loved ond, I tried to continue believing for them. Attended church when there was need, prayed mentally and whatnot, but then I wanted out. I had to keep this hidden and only when I became legal of age I told my family to leave me alone about this. They had and still have some comments about this "stupid" decision of mine. At one point I was even told by a very Christian fellow that my cat died because God wanted to punish me. The same cat that meant the world to me and I still mourn to this day. Currently I hate religion (kind of okay with some, by that I mean Buddhism) and despise Christianity. I consider myself agnostic.

Agnostic. But I am a big fan of learning about various beliefs including religious ones.

I'm an Atheist. I think religious beliefs/text can be interesting if you take them as mythologies or their history and how they shaped our society in good and bad ways.

when i lived in portland most people i knew went to church. the city i live in now is not very old and there isnt a lot of churches, people here are all about yoga and hiking. i dont know witch is worse, outdoor hipsters or indoor hipsters heh.